Elder and Sister Williams NY NY South Mission: Living in the Moment

I love busy days in the office. This week we had 2 Temple Days when the missionaries get to go to the Temple on their 6, 12, 18 month and 2 year anniversary. Their companions who are not attending the temple, are paired up with other companions and they get a P-day. They are in and out of the office all day. I love it. This week some ASL missionaries came in and one (cute-as-a-button) deaf missionary wanted to order name tags. His companion helped him communicate with me. He was so happy and pleasant. Then the 3 missionaries proceeded to converse with each other in sign language. While this was going on a very sweet elder from Philippines came over and asked for a name tag. He had a hard time finding the right English words, although the English he did know was flawless with no accent whatsoever. His 1^st language is Tagalog. At any given time you can find elders or sisters in the office speaking Spanish, ASL, Creole, Korean or Chinese. I love it. There is so much energy when the missionaries come in. I love to just stop my work (pretty much have to with all the noise) and talk to them (in English).

Thursday I went with Marc to Mega Zone conference in Plainview (out on Long Island) to inspect cars. It was in the high 90s. My job was to get in the car and check the paperwork and make sure they had their insurance papers and registration, while Marc checked the outside. We would inspect 5 cars and then go inside for a water and air conditioner break. We love to see the missionaries and they always seem glad to see us or at least they fake it pretty well. I love to listen to Marc as he gives his talks to them. It is clear that he is genuinely concerned for their safety. One set of missionaries did have an accident last week but, thankfully were ok. All 8 airbags deployed and, I’m sure, prevented serious injuries. Every time Marc’s phone rings, my heart skips a beat and I make him answer it right away in case there was an accident.

I am constantly amazed at the pace we are able to keep. After conference we went back to the office and worked for a couple of hours. Then we went home and finished up our prep for Activity Day the next day. Then another Mega Zone Conference Friday and off to Flushing for our Primary activity. I have felt the Lord’s blessings many times when I have had super busy days and weeks. After a day like Friday, at home, I would have had to crash and chill for about 3 days in order to recover. I love it here. This is the first time for many years that I have lived fully “in the moment” day after day.

Today, Sunday, was a great day! Primary is no longer my least favorite part of my mission. I love it and look forward to being with the kids. I had a learning experience today that made me feel quite small. I have one girl (not a member who comes with grandparents) in class that used to cause problems. She clearly didn’t want to be there and made it known saying she hated church. The last few weeks she began to change, participating and even asking questions. Before class today, she had her hand on her head and was very quiet. I asked her if she was ok. She said yes, she was just tired. During class she was actually my most well-behaved student, answering questions and making great comments. After class she was erasing the board for me and I thanked her and asked her how her summer was going. She said she had a hard day because her mother was drunk all morning. She said she wanted to come to church because maybe it would help her mother to stop drinking. You just never know why kids act the way they do and it has taught me to look at the difficult kids differently.

This week I was talking to one of the other senior sisters. This is her 2^nd mission (on their first, her husband was Mission President in the Philippines). We talked about how hard it is to see our grandkids on facebook doing fun things with their other grandparents. But we hope that we are setting a good example. Sister Martino said she felt like her earlier years were for serving her family. Her later years are for serving the Lord. I had to agree. We love our mission and everything about it. Marc even loves being the “car guy.” We are truly having the time of our lives.